NYT: Microsoft, Adobe CEOs hold secret meeting to gang up on Apple

The New York Times reports that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen recently held a secret meeting in San Francisco about what the companies could do to battle against Apple.

The meeting reportedly included talks of an acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft.

Apple, which has become the dominant force in the smart-phone and tablet market, has taken a stance against Adobe’s Flash multimedia platform in favor of the emerging HTML5 Web standard. Microsoft and Adobe, though their Silverlight and Flash products directly compete, each would like to see Apple lose some of its strength.

One person familiar with the discussion said the two companies had talked about the blockade Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, had placed on Adobe’s Flash software for its handheld devices and if a partnership by Adobe and Microsoft could fend off Apple, which continues to grow at juggernaut speeds.

Another person with knowledge of past talks between the two companies explained that Microsoft has courted Adobe several years ago with possible acquisition discussions. But the deal never moved past informal talks as Microsoft feared that United States Department of Justice would likely block the deal on antitrust grounds.